Louis "Speedy" Timothy Thomas (April 13, 1947July 29, 2003) was a professional

American football American football, referred to simply as football in the United States and Canada and also known as gridiron football, is a team sport played by two teams of eleven players on a rectangular American football field, field with goalposts at e ...

wide receiver A wide receiver (WR), also referred to as a wideout, and historically known as a split end (SE) or flanker (FL), is an eligible receiver in gridiron football. A key skill position of the offense (American football), offense, WR gets its name ...

in the

American Football League The American Football League (AFL) was a major professional American football league that operated for ten seasons from 1960 until 1970, AFL–NFL merger, when it merged with the older National Football League (NFL), and became the American Foot ...

(AFL) and the

National Football League The National Football League (NFL) is a Professional gridiron football, professional American football league in the United States. Composed of 32 teams, it is divided equally between the American Football Conference (AFC) and the National ...

(NFL). He played for the AFL's

Cincinnati Bengals The Cincinnati Bengals are a professional American football team based in Cincinnati. The Bengals compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the American Football Conference (AFC) AFC North, North division. The team plays its h ...

(1969) and the NFL's Bengals (1970–1972) and

New Orleans Saints The New Orleans Saints are a professional American football team based in New Orleans. The Saints compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the National Football Conference (NFC) NFC South, South division. Since 1975, the team ...

(1973–1974). Thomas played football at Booker T. Washington High School in

Houston, Texas Houston ( ) is the List of cities in Texas by population, most populous city in the U.S. state of Texas and in the Southern United States. Located in Southeast Texas near Galveston Bay and the Gulf of Mexico, it is the county seat, seat of ...

. He played

college A college (Latin: ''collegium'') may be a tertiary educational institution (sometimes awarding degrees), part of a collegiate university, an institution offering vocational education, a further education institution, or a secondary sc ...

football at the

University of Utah The University of Utah (the U, U of U, or simply Utah) is a public university, public research university in Salt Lake City, Utah, United States. It was established in 1850 as the University of Deseret (Book of Mormon), Deseret by the General A ...

. During his senior season (1968), he was named first-team All-

Western Athletic Conference The Western Athletic Conference (WAC) is an NCAA Division I conference. The WAC covers a broad expanse of the Western United States with member institutions located in Arizona, California, Texas, Utah and Washington (state), Washington. Due to ...

(WAC), and he was selected to play in the annual all-star East-West Shrine Game. He was drafted in the third round (57th overall) of the

1969 NFL/AFL draft The 1969 NFL/AFL draft was part of the common draft, the third and final year in which the NFL and AFL held a joint draft of college players. The draft took place January 28–29, 1969. The draft began with first overall pick of O. J. Simpso ...

by the second-year Cincinnati Bengals. In 1969, Thomas had a big rookie year as a flanker for the AFL's Bengals. Playing all 14 games, he had 33 receptions for 481 yards (a 14.6 average) and three touchdowns. He set a new Bengals record for receptions in a game with seven (for 177 yards) against the

Denver Broncos The Denver Broncos are a professional American football team based in Denver. The Broncos compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the American Football Conference (AFC) AFC West, West division. The team is headquartered in E ...

. For the season, he also had four carries for 16 yards and a touchdown, and he returned four punts for 15 yards. His first professional touchdown was in week 2, when he caught a nine-yard touchdown pass from

Greg Cook Gregory Lynn Cook (November 20, 1946 – January 27, 2012) was an American football quarterback who played two professional seasons, in the American Football League (AFL) and later the National Football League (NFL). He played college football ...

in a 24-30 win over the

San Diego Chargers The San Diego Chargers were a professional American football team in the National Football League (NFL). The Chargers played in San Diego, California from 1961 until 2016, before relocating back to the Greater Los Angeles area, where the franch ...

. In 1970, with the Bengals now in the NFL due to the NFL/AFL merger, he again played 14 games, including 13 as a starter at wide receiver. He had 21 receptions for 257 yards (a 12.2 average) and two touchdowns, along with two carries for seven yards and four punt returns for 20 yards. In 1971, he played 12 games, starting eight as wide receiver. He had 22 receptions for 327 yards (a 14.9 average). He also had his longest career reception and the longest in the NFL in 1971—a 90-yard touchdown pass from

Virgil Carter Virgil R. Carter (born November 9, 1945) is an American former professional American football, football quarterback who played in the National Football League (NFL) and the World Football League (WFL) from 1967 through 1976. College career Cart ...

in the season-opening game, a 37-14 win over the

Philadelphia Eagles The Philadelphia Eagles are a professional American football team based in Philadelphia. The Eagles compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the National Football Conference (NFC) NFC East, East division. The team plays its ...

. He also returned four punts for 20 yards and had two carries for -1 yards. In 1972, he played in 11 games, starting 10. He had 17 receptions for 171 yards (a 10.1 average) and one touchdown. After four years with the Bengals, on July 9, 1973, he was traded to the New Orleans Saints for rookie

defensive tackle A defensive tackle (DT) is a position in American football that typically lines up on the line of scrimmage, opposite one of the Guard (American football), offensive guards; however, he may also line up opposite one of the offensive Tackle (gridir ...

Jerry Ellison. In 1973 for the Saints, he played in six games with no statistics. In 1974, his sixth and last in pro football, he played in one game, with one reception for three yards.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Thomas, Speedy 1947 births 2003 deaths Players of American football from Houston American football wide receivers Utah Utes football players Cincinnati Bengals players New Orleans Saints players American Football League players

See also

References